Love and family bond
by Emerald-rei
Summary: Loneliness is what Kantaro always feel because he has no family. He know he shall not ask for more, yet feelings are hard to control. If only he can see he already has a family there by his side.


_Love and family bond_

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimer attached.

Rating: PG or K+

Genre: Angst, romance

Pairing: One-sided Kantaro and Haruka

Warnings or notes: Shonen-ai, OOC-ness, grammar and other errors, Kantaro-centered, around 1900 words.

I am having a writer's block for my 'Waiting for you'…:sweats: So, I decided to write something else to clear my mind a bit. My trial SPM is next week…I bet I do not have extra time for writing more stories. Anyway, hope you enjoy this story and do review please.

**: ooo :**

Kantaro is jealous. In fact, he is pissed off. That girl has been staring at_ him_ way too long. The admiring glow in her black eyes reveals her feelings at once. It is so damn frustrating. And he is more annoyed by how oblivious _he_ is, or perhaps, _he_ pretends to be.

"Excuse me…urm…," finally the girl decides to approach the charming man she has been staring at.

Slowly, Haruka turns to look at her. He slightly raises his left eyebrow, as if asking the girl to continue what she wants to.

"Are you free…tonight?" the girl blushes when she asks him. 'He looks even hotter when face-to-face!' her mind adds as her blush goes deeper.

It is either this girl pretends to be shy or she is acting out of herself, Haruka finds it amusing. How can those mortals hold such action is beyond him. Well, he cannot really blame her for acting out of herself, if it is true. His extremely handsome looks have managed to daze countless girls before. Every girl that meets him has fallen for him at the first sight.

Okay, leave Yoko, Rozali and Yumeyako out of this since they seem to have no interest in him. Yoko is fond of him, but sees him like a brotherly friend, no more, no less. Rozali sees him as her own kind, which it is a strange thing to the tengu. Yumeyako only sees him as a close friend of Kantaro.

Finally, Kantaro decided he has had enough of this and leaves his hiding place for good. It is not that he is trying to spy on Haruka or what, but that tengu suddenly leaves his study room. The young exorcist thinks something must be bothering the demon, and so he lets it be. However, when Haruka is not back for a long time, he is worried and goes all the way to find him.

To his dismay, his discovery hurts him deeply inside. He has not understood why he reacts that way, or why he is feeling jealous. Oblivious to him, he has feelings for Haruka too it seems. Nevertheless, the crimson eyed youth knows nothing of this new feeling, as he is never exposed to this before.

All he knows and feels most of the time is either joyful, regret, guilty, upset, nervous, and all the others, but never once 'love'. Because he never has the chance to 'love', let alone 'be loved'. Due to his haste, he never has the chance to hear Haruka's reply.

He decides to carry on his exorcising job alone this time. There is a new job for him to exorcise a believed-to-be-possessed girl. He hopes it is not a ghost. Otherwise, he will have to bear the extreme pain on his chest again. He might not be able to stand the pain, whereas his heart has hurt enough.

The young exorcist walks slowly towards the destination he is supposed to go and as if on cue, he feels a strong sensation. It is none other than the sensation of…a ghost. A direct pain hits him straight on his chest. His actions are halted immediately as his hand clenches on the fabric of his clothes near his chest in a jerk. 'Of all things, it just has to turn out to be my unlucky day…'

Slowly and painfully, his left hand turns the knob and enters the mansion like it belongs to him. His sweats thicken when he enters further into the mansion, looking for the source of the strong aura. After taking a deep breath, Kantaro smiles at a figure of a girl in the middle of the huge living room.

"May I know why you are still here whereas you should go back to where you belong?" he dares himself to ask the pretty girl. The long haired girl turns to look at him in a sad face. The young exorcist feels relieve. At least, she means no harm for the moment.

"I loved him…but he never loved me. He never looked at me that way…till the day he died…," she begins her story with a heart-broken face. "The person he loved is happy. I envy her…she had his love, and gained happiness, but I gained nothing…" At this, she unconsciously tightens her grip on her clothes. Apparently the girl she mentioned just now is the body her spirit possesses.

With this, Kantaro's eyes sadden as well. When he listens to her story, somehow it reminds him of Haruka with his own relationship. Now only it occurs to him that he too, has a feeling which one would call 'love'. It is a long hidden feeling, and he knows _he_ would never return it. "But, if you truly loved him, you would want him to feel happy too…right?"

To his surprise, the spirit suddenly flares up and her aura changes at once. "You don't understand it!" In a jerk, she attacks the unprepared exorcist and sends him flying a few steps away.

Kantaro tried to repel her attack by a spell, yet his attempt is in vain since a pain snatches away his opportunity to cast it. He lands on the flood with a loud thud. When it comes to fight a ghost, Kantaro knows better to bring Haruka. But, just now…

"She…This woman couldn't give him happiness! She betrayed his love in the end! She did not deserve to be with him, and now she doesn't deserve to live!" With that, she raises a knife and readies to stab the body she possesses.

Kantaro flings himself towards the girl and his right hand grabs hold on the knife, wounding him in the process. "No! It is not right!" Despite the stinging pain on both his chest and fresh wound, Kantaro tries to sooth the spirit down. "You have no rights to punish her like this…"

"You!"

Before she could attacks him again, the young exorcist already casts a spell and in a sad tone, he asks her to go back to where she belongs. "Please…go back to where you belong…" This is all followed by a banshee-like wail by the ghost.

Normally, the childlike youth would have pursued the evil spirits or demons to give up and be friends with them. Yet, today, something has triggered him to act against the odds. For now, the body of the girl is more important…He has to save her before the vengeful spirit does something nasty.

Ignoring his bleeding left palm, Kantaro picks up the motionless girl and supports her with his right arm. His small frame does not allow him to carry her. Then, he half-drags her towards her supposed home. They reach it after a long walk and Kantaro is obviously exhausted. The worried father opens the door and is delighted to see his daughter to be in a perfect shape.

"Oh, Ichinomiya-sensei! You have saved her! Thanks!" he exclaims and immediately takes over his unconscious daughter. Only by that second he notices the blood drips from Kantaro's wounded palm. "You are wounded, sensei!" his eyes widen in shock and concern.

Kantaro shrugs it off with a half-faked smile. "It is nothing serious. My assistant would manage it for me later. Thank you for the concern." Suddenly, he feels weak and dizzy. It is always like this. He will always go through the same routine after an exorcise job.

Somehow, the mother decides to make her appearance and hands the money for the job to the young exorcist. "This is the payment. Thank you, sensei. We owe you a huge favor," she wipes away her relieved tears.

Seeing this reminds him of the family bond and he envies them. He has been alone all those years…even till now he is still alone… "Don't worry about it. Take good care of her and you owe me nothing," he tries to form a smile. "By the way, I need to get my treatment too. Have a good night," with that, the parents bow respectfully at him and he goes off heading towards his own house.

His house is only a few blocks away from the victim's. When he enters it, a female demon fox greets him with a warm smile she often wears. "Kan-chan!" However, when she sees his bleeding palm, her eyes are widened in worry. "You are hurt!"

Trying to shrug off the fussiness Yoko shows, Kantaro hands her the payment in an envelope he received just now. "Here, Yoko. And this is nothing." He tries to fool his slave with a smile and it fails as Yoko puts down the envelope and turns at him.

"No! You are bleeding. Come here! I will bandage it for you," she protests after a cute pout that one Kantaro cannot resist for sure. So the mortal obediently sits on the carpet without further argument. After all, he is exhausted and not feeling well.

"You are burning up again, aren't you?" her voice startles the exorcist suddenly when she enters the living room. Her concerned eyes scan over her master while her hands work in a fast pace to clean and bandage the wound. Kantaro just gives a weak nod.

"Why would you care, Yoko?" suddenly, his thought gets the best of him as the question slips from his mouth. "And…would he care…?"

Yoko just gives another warm smile. "Haruka-chan surely would care for you. And that is because you are our family," she says gently, as if telling a tale to a small child. Kantaro's eyes widen slightly before he lowers his head in shame.

How could he think like he has no family when there are always Yoko and Haruka for him? How could he want more than he has now? He might loves Haruka, but now when Yoko tells him this….he feels it is good enough that the tengu stays by his side. He feels content by just being able to be friends with the strongest tengu of all. 'I am selfish for wanting more,' he thinks.

"Thank you…," he mutters after a while. Then he is tugged by Yoko when she is done with the bandage. Fully understand her meaning, he goes straight to his room and lies down. The earlier jealousy has vanished completely. He just feels glad to know he still has a family waiting for him every day. And he would feel happy for Haruka if the tengu finds his own happiness.

Outside of his room, a tall figure is leaning on his door. Haruka has refused the girl's offer and decides to come back home. He has asked Yoko for Kantaro's where bout when he has reached home. Yoko has told him that Kantaro has gone for a job and he is annoyed plus curious for being left behind. When he hears Kantaro's voice, he does not know why, but his mind tells him to remain hidden. And so the tengu does. Thus, he overhears everything.

After his master enters the room looking worn out, the tengu leans on the door with a deep sigh. 'That stupid master has done something reckless again…,' he thinks. 'And who won't care for you when you are always that reckless?' he asks obviously to himself.

After a while, the demon decides to leave and have his rest. Before he leaves, he wishes 'good night' to the mortal and asks him to get well soon since he is quite sure Kantaro is not asleep yet. 'Why would I care?' he asks himself after he leaves.

Truly enough, the human is still awake, despite how tired he is. He is shocked to hear his male slave's deep voice, yet at the same time, he feels happy. Even though for now Haruka only sees him as the one who released him, or perhaps a normal friend, Kantaro is joyful to know that they indeed have some kind of a 'special' bond. For now or maybe in the future, Haruka might not return his feelings, but it is already enough for the young exorcist to know the tengu cares for him.

'…It must be because you are our family, just like Yoko said, Kantaro…'

**: The End :**

Yeah, this is plain pointless. :sweats: Not to mention quite weird (to me…). I have no idea why does it turn out to be this way, but oh well…I think my writing skill is just poor…:sighs:


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